We’re excited to announce a fun new way to discover projects. Starting today you can follow creators directly and be first to find out when their next projects launch. You’ll also be notified when they’ve backed a project that’s just getting off the ground. There are thousands of creative projects on Kickstarter at any given moment, and following creators you admire to get a sense of what inspires them is a great way to explore projects that are likely to speak to you — or to discover something completely unexpected and delightful.

We’re thrilled to announce today that $100 million has been pledged to Publishing projects on Kickstarter. Since we launched seven years ago, authors, publishers, book shops, poets, podcasters, and more have brought their creative projects to life with the generous support of the Kickstarter community.

The summer is coming to a close and it's officially back-to-school season. Why not kick-off September with a new creative challenge? One that requires you to start making stuff and tinker on the internet. That’s why we partnered with our friends at Skillshare. We’ve created a list of incredible classes taught by creators across 15 Kickstarter categories. Pick the classes you want to learn from and be inspired by the process. Of course, we can tell you 100 reasons why you should watch each class (Adam J. Kurtz's Unsolicited Advice is always a motivator!), however, we decided to let the student reviews speak for themselves. If you want to share your thoughts on our Skillshare roundup, send us a tweet @KickstarterTips!

It's pretty much a given that a successful Kickstarter campaign includes a great project description, outreach plan and a solid community of backers. Of equal importance are the updates that creators send their backers. Project updates don’t just appear on each project page, they’re also delivered directly to backers’ inboxes, and can be a powerful tool for engaging backers and motivating them to share a project.Think of project updates as a window into a project’s development, featuring images, video and the ongoing story of the project. (Tip: We also consider a project’s updates when choosing whether or not to feature it or make it a Project We Love.)

There’s no magic to the right number or frequency of updates; we recommend posting consistently and often, and to start brainstorming and even drafting updates before you launch. Fun fact: Creators on Kickstarter send about 6,000 updates a week. Here’s a list of fifty ideas for inspiration!

Creators Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu could never have predicted how Burning Man would change their lives — or how 70,000 people camping in the desert of Nevada could provide an endless stream of inspiration. “The playa,” as it’s affectionately known, is filled with mesmerizing, surreal art installations, like artwork inspired by the dendritic forms of medieval vaulting, intriguing cubic structures, and carnival-like sculptures.

It was in this stimulating environment with temperatures rising above 100°F that HYBYCOZO was brought to life. (HYBYCOZO is short for the Hyperspace Bypass Construction Zone.) Yelena and Serge premiered their first Kickstarter-funded installation at the Burning Man Festival in August 2014 and are currently working on their third project, Heart of Gold. In our latest Creator Hangout, the creative duo talk about the importance of getting “scrappy,” protecting your artwork, and creating one-of-a-kind backer rewards.

Hundreds of Games creators, award-winning artists, and sci-fi and fantasy enthusiasts will descend on Indianapolis from August 4–7 for Gen Con, one of the largest tabletop gaming conventions in North America — and we’ve teamed up with Cards Against Humanity to host a brilliant bunch of games for your dice-rolling, tile-laying, card-swapping pleasure. Adventure awaits!

Over in the UK, the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe is almost upon us, and we’re entering a state of Fringe frenzy! We’re extra excited to see so many Kickstarter-funded projects this year, from the serious to the funny to the delightfully bizarre. Whether you’re heading to the Fringe or cheering on artists from afar, here are some of the amazing projects you’ll find there this year.

A new study by the University of Pennsylvania provides the first comprehensive look at how the
Kickstarter community impacts the creative economy. The study finds that Kickstarter projects have:

Employed 283,000 part-time collaborators in bringing creative projects to life.

Created 8,800 new companies and nonprofits, and 29,600 full-time jobs.

Generated more than $5.3 billion in direct economic impact for those creators and their communities.

Here are the key findings from the research.

Paying Creative Collaborators

A long-running challenge in the world of creative projects is the ability for collaborators to be paid for their contributions. Editors, illustrators, backing musicians, crew, and other creative collaborators are often unpaid for their work on creative projects. Not so with Kickstarter-funded creative projects. Respondents to the UPenn study reported that Kickstarter enabled them to pay collaborators who they would not have otherwise been able to pay. Overall, Kickstarter projects have employed approximately 283,000 temporary workers.

Job Creation

While many Kickstarter projects are one-offs (films, books, albums, etc.), others are becoming ongoing, sustainable ventures that create new jobs. For every 1,000 Kickstarter projects that have been brought to life, 190 founders now work alongside 82 full-time employees. As of June 2016, an estimated 29,600 new full-time creative careers have stemmed from Kickstarter projects.

Company Formation

An estimated 8,800 new companies and nonprofits have gotten their start through Kickstarter. Among them are businesses as diverse as Palmer Luckey's Oculus, which brought virtual reality into the mainstream; Radiotopia, an inspired podcast network of independent storytellers giving voice to subjects not well covered in traditional public media; Debbie Sterling's GoldieBlox, which creates games and entertainment designed to develop early interest in engineering; Eric Migicovsky's Pebble Technology, which pioneered the smartwatch category; Kazoo, a beautifully imagined print magazine on a mission to inspire strong, smart, fierce young women; and Chicken Town, a London-based restaurant and social enterprise committed to serving healthful, locally sourced meals while paying its staff living wages.

Eighty-two percent of the organizations created through Kickstarter continue to operate today.

Economic Impact

Another way to assess the Kickstarter community's impact is to examine whether creators earn revenue from their project after bringing it to life. Seven out of ten creators reported such earnings. Every dollar pledged to a successfully funded project resulted in $2.46 in additional revenue for the creator, leading to an estimated $5.3 billion in additional economic activity.

Career Advancement and Mobility

Another exciting finding is Kickstarter’s impact on career advancement within the creative workforce. Filmmakers, photographers, artists, authors, designers, musicians, and others reported that their project led to professional growth, greater earnings, and career advancement.

37% said that their Kickstarter project helped them advance their careers.

21% reported receiving an increase in annual earnings after running a successful project.

19% said they found a new job opportunity as a result of their Kickstarter project.

7% said their project helped them successfully switch careers.

Creators also reported meaningful professional gains within their fields:

Musicians reported that Kickstarter helped them secure record or publishing deals.

Video game creators reported that their Kickstarter project helped them secure a publisher or attention from reviewers.

Authors and comic book creators reported that their Kickstarter project led to attention from mainstream publishers.

Journalists reported that their Kickstarter project gave them freedom from the external control of editors and publishers, and helped them create work that served an underserved audience.

Creative Independence

Creative independence is at the heart of what Kickstarter provides creators, and this also came out in the study.

Creators reported that Kickstarter afforded them the creative independence they would not have been able to achieve through other funding avenues, and allowed them to bring their project to life without compromising their vision. These are conditions that empower creators to aim high and take the creative risks needed to fuel innovation.

Backers reported more than 50% of Kickstarter projects to be innovative. An estimated 4,200 patents tied to projects have been filed. More than 10% of creators reported winning major awards for their work, including a MacArthur Genius grant, National Design Awards from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, a James Dyson Award, IDSA’s International Design Excellence Award, CES Innovation Awards, the Sikorsky Prize, Independent Games Festival Awards, Grammys, an Oscar, and many more.

This research illustrates how the Kickstarter community has strengthened the economic picture for creators while serving as a valuable engine for cultural production. We’re thrilled to be a part of it. You can read the study in full here.

Disclosures and Methodology: This is based on the independent research of Professor Ethan Mollick of the University of Pennsylvania. Kickstarter helped with data gathering for his survey but had no influence over his analyses. For the purposes of this post we’ve used his findings from a sample of 61,654 projects launched before June 2015 and extrapolated them to include the last 12 months of projects.